Treadmills are used to provide individuals with walking or running exercise, physical therapy, or as a diagnostic tool. A typical treadmill has an elongate flat frame on which an endless belt is mounted for movement over the frame. A motor attached to the base rotates the belt to require the person on the belt to walk or run at a pace equal to the rate at which the belt moves. Typically a flat deck is disposed underneath the belt. When the person on the treadmill places a foot down, the underlying, bottom, surface of the belt presses against the top of the treadmill deck. A treadmill is designed so that, when a section of its belt is stepped on, the belt will continue to move over the surface of the deck.
A disadvantage of many current treadmills is that their belts and decks wear out at a rapid rate. Each time the belt and deck come into contact, a relatively high-friction interface is formed. The inherent scrubbing action of this contact that occurs as a result of the belt being dragged along the deck, as well as the friction-generated heat that develops along the interface between these two components, serves to incrementally wear off the material from which the belt and deck are formed. Over time, so much of the material forming the belt and deck is worn away that either one or both components become unusable and need to be replaced. The rate at which treadmill belts and decks need to be replaced in health clubs and like locations is especially rapid because in these locations the treadmills are typically in high use.
There have been numerous attempts to increase the useful lifetime of treadmill belts and decks. Most of these efforts have centered around reducing the friction of the belt-deck interface. U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,845, for example, discloses a treadmill with a wax-embedded section of canvas secured to the to the top surface of the deck, the surface against which the belt presses. U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,284 discloses a treadmill with a polytetrafluorethylene/fluorocarbon (Teflon)-coated deck. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,602,779, 4,616,822, and 4,872,664 disclose treadmill decks that have been built from other low-friction material, formed of material that conduct the heat generated at the belt-deck interface into the surrounding environment, and/or provided with an outer coating of wax,. While these efforts have served to reduce some of the wear to which a treadmill belt and complementary deck are exposed, they have not been entirely successful in significantly increasing the useful life of these components.